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Ceres Space Station
Ceres is the largest object in the Main Asteroid Belt. Some people suggested that it can be terraformed, but its atmosphere will not last for long. Still, Ceres is of high importance for future space missions in the Asteroid Belt. Background The main asteroid belt consists of many small celestial bodies, rich in mineral ores. In many cases, mining will attract many people. Also, industry can take the advantage of working in low gravity. So, the main asteroid belt will attract a lot of settlers and industrial corporations. Many goods will be shipped with the use of large ships, that cannot land on a planet. To solve this problem, Space Stations are needed and they will be built around all planets. Ships will move mostly along the Trade Routes, which are dependent on flight windows. Ships will carry minerals from an asteroid to another, to refineries. From refineries, purified ores will be shipped to industrial centers. Finally, metals, alloys, chemical compounds, building parts or finished products will also be shipped towards various destinations. In return, some asteroids will produce food, oxygen and clean water, to be shipped to the workers. From other places, clothes, electronics and other commodities will also need to be transported. The Asteroid Belt can be a booming economy, with strong ties both with the rocky planets and the gas giants. It is questionable if the asteroid belt will form a large federation, will be made of small states or will be ruled by nearby planets. What is clear is that a network of space stations will be needed to transport all goods. Many asteroids are too small to require a space station. Indeed, if they have a diameter below 100 km, their gravity is too weak and even the largest ships can land without a problem. Also, in many cases, a base is not needed. Goods can be transported between the asteroid and a large ship with the help of shuttles. Orbital stations might be feasible for a few larger bodies, including Ceres, Pallas or Vesta. If the asteroid belt will be an independent federation, then commerce between asteroids will increase. A central space station will become vital for the local economy. If this will not happen, then many asteroids will be under influence of Venus, Earth, Mars or Jupiter. But still, some asteroids will be independent. Given its large size, Ceres can support a larger population and therefore has a higher chance to be an independent state or a central state in a federation. Particularities Ceres orbital station will be more used for cargo then for passengers. So, it will require a large cargo base. Large interplanetary ships will connect the station with both inner and outer planets. Smaller ships will frequently link Ceres with the asteroids. Also, Ceres station will become a trade center. Here, people will come to exchange goods, to look for a buyer or to look for a product. In order to handle this, Ceres station will need to have a large cargo bay and exchange terminals. Still, some industrial corporations will prefer to do business outside Ceres and ship their goods to another space station. For passengers, Ceres base will be less attractive. Flight windows between asteroids can occur at 1000 Earth days. People will find faster to go to Earth Space Station, to Venus Space Station, to Mercury Space Station, to Phobos for Mars, to Himalia for Jupiter or to Helene for Saturn. Asteroids are moving along their orbits. Because of this, sometimes there will be better connections to outside stations and sometimes there will be better windows towards Ceres. The Base As Dawn spacecraft showed us, there are many long-term safe orbits around Ceres. The base will not need to use energy to remain in orbit. Ceres space station will have a smaller place for people. But still, passengers might wait there for many days until a ship will come and transport them. Because of this, there will always be people inside. Ceres has a low gravity. It will be very easy to transport food, oxygen and fresh water from Ceres, then to bring carbon dioxide and human dejections back. Still, because it will not be a crowded place, the base can produce its own food and oxygen. It is questionable what is the best solution. The base must have a medical service. Also, since people will stay for long here, the base should provide some services to entertain people. However, this might not be needed, since people waiting can be ferried to Ceres. Energy can be solar. As Dawn spaceship showed us, solar power still is enough at the orbit of Ceres. A nuclear generator is not out of question and can be used as a backup source of power if anything goes wrong. The base will have large docking pads for interplanetary ships, average-sized pads for ships linking to other asteroids and small pads for ships going to Ceres or passenger ships. In addition, the base must have a repair facility for damaged ships and must hold enough fuel of all kinds. Fuel will be shipped from Ceres. Freight will be of four different types: containers, special containers, extra-size products and fluids. Most goods will be shipped inside containers, which have an universal size. Special containers must be connected to a source of electricity or stored at certain temperatures. Extra-size products include raw materials, which can be large chunks of rocks or grinded into smaller parts. Grinded rocks must be shipped inside large bags, to avoid spreading them into space. Also, chunks of rock must be handled with care, to avoid losing fragments. Anything lost will become space debris. For raw materials, the Ceres station can have a special sector, where such products will be sliced and packed to manageable sizes. Flight Windows Ceres is periodically aligned with inner and outer planets, allowing for flight windows to exist, as follows: Mercury - Ceres: 93 Earth days Venus - Ceres: 260 Earth days Earth - Ceres: 466 Earth days Mars - Ceres: 1161 Earth days Ceres - Jupiter: 7.53 Earth years Ceres - Saturn: 5.42 Earth years Ceres - Uranus: 4.88 Earth years Ceres - Neptune: 4.77 Earth years. These flight windows are calculated only based on planetary alignments. Additional flight windows occur if we consider gravity assists and deep space maneuvers. If there is no flight window for at least 1000 Earth days, a ship will still travel, at the expense of fuel. Suppose all flight windows are used and in case of gas giants a ship will depart every 1000 Earth days, there will be 7.24 launches during each Earth year or one launch at roughly 50 Earth days. There will be one space event (launch or landing) of an interplanetary spaceship every 25 Earth days. Flight windows between the station and Ceres occur more then twice every Earth day. Ideal flight windows between Ceres and the other asteroids don't occur too often, but once at 1500 to 4000 Earth days. However, there are many alternative flight windows possible. When Ceres is close to one asteroid, flying between them is very easy and it is easy to ferry goods towards Ceres. However, when Ceres and an asteroid are at opposition, it will be more feasible to ferry towards Mars, Earth or Jupiter. Delta-v Delta-v shows the amount of energy needed by a ship to travel from a place to another. Around Ceres, the values are as follows: Mercury Space Station – Ceres station 24.871 Venus Space Station – Ceres station 16.969 Earth Space Station – Ceres station 13.281 Mars Phobos – Ceres station 7.274 Ceres station – Jupiter Himalia 6.468 Ceres station – Saturn Helene 12.613 Ceres station – Uranus Perdita 13.323 Ceres station – Neptune Halimede 9.849 Ceres station – Pluto Styx 9.662 Ceres station – Eris low orbit 9.853 Ceres station – Sedna low orbit 8.867 Ceres station – Ceres surface 0.561 For comparison, an Earth surface - Moon surface flight will require a delta-v of 14.466 km/s. Traveling between the station and the surface will be very easy. Passengers and cargo can be shipped without major costs. This makes sense that people will wait for launches on Ceres and will be transported to the station a few hours before departure. Except for Mercury, delta-v requirements for interplanetary flights are small. Shipping goods between the asteroids also comes with a delta-v budget below 6. This will have a great importance for the local industry and will boost development of local economies. Strategic Importance The Ceres station will be of significant importance for the Main Asteroid Belt, but it will never cover all asteroids in the region. The station will be of significant importance for commerce, but will not be the only entry point. There is a high probability that also Pallas and Vesta will build their own stations. Depending on distance and flight windows, asteroids will prefer to ship their goods to Ceres, Pallas, Vesta, Mars, Earth, Venus, Jupiter or Saturn. These trade routes will remain functional for only limited time, until a new alignment allows trade to resume with another station. Suppose that one day the Asteroid Belt unites into a federation. Since both passengers and cargo will not use a single entry point, there will not be enough control. Illegal staff, like drugs or weapons, can pass through more easily. Also, criminals can get in and out without being controlled like they will be in other places. Category:Technology